In a recent interview on The Graham Norton Show, Kate Winslet revealed that Eminem had a bizarre proposition for her when they appeared on a 2004 episode of Saturday Night Live.
Winslet was joined on Norton by former New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern, comedian Alan Carr, and former SNL head writer Seth Meyers. When the topic of SNL came up, Meyers mentioned that he worked on the show when Winslet hosted, and she admitted that it was “absolutely terrifying” for her because she was hosting the week after Ashlee Simpson’s infamous lip-sync fiasco.
“This is a story I’ve never told,” she said after speaking about her experience on SNL. “Eminem asked me to shave his bottom. … He said, ‘Would you shave my butt?’ And I said, ‘I’m sorry, I don’t do personal grooming.’ … Never told that story before, ever in my life in public.” She did not explain, however, why he asked her to shave his butt.
Earlier in the interview, Winslet also spoke about how terrifying she found the week she worked on SNL, and revealed that her tap-dancing and singing monologue came together at the very last moment.
“I’m then on with Eminem, I was doing publicity for a film called Finding Neverland at the time,” she recalled. “Johnny Depp and I had to miss the Wednesday rehearsal, because we had to go to Chicago and talk to Oprah. I’m thinking, ‘Oh my God, what’s the opening monologue going to be?’ I get back Wednesday night, come back from the Oprah thing, [and] still they’re like, ‘Well, we’re just, you know, trying to figure it out.’ I’m like, ‘Just please, tell me, it’s a couple of days away!’”
The following day, Winslet went into the SNL studio and was asked if she could sing. “I said, ‘a little,’” she continued, while listing all the other things she was asked if she could do, including tap-dancing. “So I’m like, ‘What’s the opening monologue?’ ‘We’ll get back to you.’ I’m like, ‘Oh my God, now what’s happening?!’”